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Harry Potter book buying NO SPOILERS IN THIS POST please don't put spoilers in the comments! Last night I braved a midnight line up for buying Harry Potter. Well first I saw Hairspray which was a LOT of fun and then we braved the line. The story of the night along with photos is behind the cut...
KateAP and Mel 2x2 you guys are going to want to read the 3rd paragraph of this!
I spent much of yesterday in a mood of bouncing in my seat waiting to get in line for HP, work was fun that way. It was so odd, no one else on my floor (at least no one who was vocal about it) was even interested in buying the book at all. People didn't even seem aware that this was the last book. I was making entertaining guesses all day (which I'm not posting because if they're right they may spoil people) and I had no one to discuss HP with really aside from the usuals who I email :)
After work Jess and I rushed downtown, met up with Dani Lee and Trevor had dinner, went to the movie theater and met Jo to go watch Hairspray. Hairspray was such a cute movie. I went into it not expecting much because I'd really not been drawn to see the show at all on stage so I was pleasantly surprised to find I liked the movie. John Travolta and Christopher Walken as a couple somewhat creeped me out just because CW is often so scary and it was just odd, but entertaning, to see. The whole theater was enjoying the film, laughing in the right places. I think I'll buy this one :)
On our way out of the theatre we ran into two Browncoats... and how did I recognize them you may wonder? One of them had Kate and Mel's Canadian Browncoat patch on their bag! Awesome!
Next up we went from the theater to Bay and Bloor where the HP street party was starting... and then promptly went through it as fast as possible. It was all geared to 5 year olds which was fine I just wanted to take pictures of the neat things there but they hadn't put any effort into making anything look like the places in the book. The "Knight Bus" was just a double decker sightseeing bus that they hadn't even put any banners or anything HP related on. They could have done such a better job but instead it was all just cheaped out on.
Secondly there was a group of protesters handing out flyers about "Harry Potter and the deathly Israeli Apartheid" and I'm so not even kidding you. The gist of it was that two of the major shareholders of Chapters/Indigo had started a fund that offers financial support to former "lone soldiers" from the Israeli military and they wanted people to buy their books from a smaller indipendant retailer. Firstly that was so not the place for this. People who were out to buy a HP book that night wanted it at midnight, many small indipendant bookstores were not offering that. Also I'm not getting in the middle of that conflict, I don't know what is right and I suspect that I'd have to do a lot more research than what's on a flyer handed to me as I'm wanted to buy a Harry Potter book.
So we moved through that scene quickly and figured we'd just go line up at the Indigo at Eaton Centre as Jess and Dani-Lee had asked their earlier in the week about books and they'd been told that at that store the pre-order line was going to be so long it was best just to show up and buy in person (which it totally was) so we thought we'd just go line up. Jo headed home and we continued on to the store.
However, the bookstore was fantastic. They were giving out free cotton candy (totally keeps you awake for midnight!) and had all of these little stations around letting people get their faces painted, fortunes told, there was HP trivia, everything was decorated, and they had a creature table.
They handed out maps as you came into the store so you could see everything they had going on for the evening.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good..."
Books!
We went for cotton candy first (sugar is always good) then staked out a good place in the line up for books where we had seats and then took turns exploring the store.
Which two will it be? I totally changed my mind yesterday thinking of a nice way to bookend the first and last books, so I'm hoping my new theory is right.
Hanging over the cash register were Quiddich items, bludgers, hoops, two broomsticks and a golden snich. Tricky to take a picture of but it was neat.
While wandering I came accross a couple of Golden Snitches one for my brother and one for myself as he'd told me to bring him the Golden Snitch if I went to the HP celebrations last night so I thought it would be fun to really bring him one. He's getting the keychain one, I'm keeping the one on the stand.
Snitches on the new book.
My Golden Snitch (they only had one of these or I'd have nabbed another for my brother. This one also came with stickers!
Golden Snitch keychain for my brother.
What was surprising to me was that I ended up liking the creature table a lot. I've not been much for bugs or snakes or such things since I was about 10 but last night I ended up holding a tarantula, a snake and an giant African milipede!
I started out with the tarantula, whose name I cannot remember. I always thought they'd have more weight to them being so big but really they're weightless.
The second time I passed by the table Merlin the Snake was out, so I had a go at wearing a snake. The woman who put him on me was right, wearing a snake is like getting a neck massage. It felt kind of nice.
Then as we were walking passed again they had out the Giant African Milipede named Darth Vader. I took one look and thought there was no way I was touching it. But the woman told me to pat it and see how neat he felt and then before I knew what I'd agreed to...
He wasn't bad either, I sort of liked that he was so big because I knew where he was at all times, it's a little like velcro when they took him off of my hands because his legs cling. But again, surprisingly not bad.
They also had Scabbers the rat but I didn't ask to hold him, I've played with rats before and I think that was one that kids were allowed to touch as opposed to some of the other ones which were for adults only. Jess held the tarantula as well, no one else who I was with wanted to hold the animals but they were kind enough to take pictures for me so I can prove I actually held these things.
The store also had their employees in costume and I got a couple of awesome shots of Voldemort (who I think was an employee) with Merlin the snake:
His make up was just amazing!
For the last hour we pretty much just stayed in line.
Me in line.
More Harry Potter merch. I was very good and didn't buy anything excepting for the Golden Snitches and, of course, the book.
At midnight they did a countdown and then started selling. I was so impressed with how organized the store was. I had my book in hand at 12:08am and was on my way home. I was so impressed with the fact that NO one was giving away any spoilers. I was afraid that there would be jerky people who would make it a misson to stop by bookstores last night and give away the ending but there was none of that where I was. I saw a few people going right for the last chapter as we were leaving the store but that's their own choice and while I think that sort of ruins the book at least they weren't ruining it for everyone.
This is after they started selling the books. I was really trying for a picture of just the stack of books but you can see most of their Harry Potter there as well. He was doing the face painting upstairs for most of the evening :)
I've not started reading yet, I'm almost reluctant to because this is the end of this Harry Potter world, but I think I'll grab some breakfast and start reading soon :)
There will be a review coming shortly on here I'm sure.
KateAP and Mel 2x2 you guys are going to want to read the 3rd paragraph of this!
I spent much of yesterday in a mood of bouncing in my seat waiting to get in line for HP, work was fun that way. It was so odd, no one else on my floor (at least no one who was vocal about it) was even interested in buying the book at all. People didn't even seem aware that this was the last book. I was making entertaining guesses all day (which I'm not posting because if they're right they may spoil people) and I had no one to discuss HP with really aside from the usuals who I email :)
After work Jess and I rushed downtown, met up with Dani Lee and Trevor had dinner, went to the movie theater and met Jo to go watch Hairspray. Hairspray was such a cute movie. I went into it not expecting much because I'd really not been drawn to see the show at all on stage so I was pleasantly surprised to find I liked the movie. John Travolta and Christopher Walken as a couple somewhat creeped me out just because CW is often so scary and it was just odd, but entertaning, to see. The whole theater was enjoying the film, laughing in the right places. I think I'll buy this one :)
On our way out of the theatre we ran into two Browncoats... and how did I recognize them you may wonder? One of them had Kate and Mel's Canadian Browncoat patch on their bag! Awesome!
Next up we went from the theater to Bay and Bloor where the HP street party was starting... and then promptly went through it as fast as possible. It was all geared to 5 year olds which was fine I just wanted to take pictures of the neat things there but they hadn't put any effort into making anything look like the places in the book. The "Knight Bus" was just a double decker sightseeing bus that they hadn't even put any banners or anything HP related on. They could have done such a better job but instead it was all just cheaped out on.
Secondly there was a group of protesters handing out flyers about "Harry Potter and the deathly Israeli Apartheid" and I'm so not even kidding you. The gist of it was that two of the major shareholders of Chapters/Indigo had started a fund that offers financial support to former "lone soldiers" from the Israeli military and they wanted people to buy their books from a smaller indipendant retailer. Firstly that was so not the place for this. People who were out to buy a HP book that night wanted it at midnight, many small indipendant bookstores were not offering that. Also I'm not getting in the middle of that conflict, I don't know what is right and I suspect that I'd have to do a lot more research than what's on a flyer handed to me as I'm wanted to buy a Harry Potter book.
So we moved through that scene quickly and figured we'd just go line up at the Indigo at Eaton Centre as Jess and Dani-Lee had asked their earlier in the week about books and they'd been told that at that store the pre-order line was going to be so long it was best just to show up and buy in person (which it totally was) so we thought we'd just go line up. Jo headed home and we continued on to the store.
However, the bookstore was fantastic. They were giving out free cotton candy (totally keeps you awake for midnight!) and had all of these little stations around letting people get their faces painted, fortunes told, there was HP trivia, everything was decorated, and they had a creature table.
They handed out maps as you came into the store so you could see everything they had going on for the evening.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good..."
Books!
We went for cotton candy first (sugar is always good) then staked out a good place in the line up for books where we had seats and then took turns exploring the store.
Which two will it be? I totally changed my mind yesterday thinking of a nice way to bookend the first and last books, so I'm hoping my new theory is right.
Hanging over the cash register were Quiddich items, bludgers, hoops, two broomsticks and a golden snich. Tricky to take a picture of but it was neat.
While wandering I came accross a couple of Golden Snitches one for my brother and one for myself as he'd told me to bring him the Golden Snitch if I went to the HP celebrations last night so I thought it would be fun to really bring him one. He's getting the keychain one, I'm keeping the one on the stand.
Snitches on the new book.
My Golden Snitch (they only had one of these or I'd have nabbed another for my brother. This one also came with stickers!
Golden Snitch keychain for my brother.
What was surprising to me was that I ended up liking the creature table a lot. I've not been much for bugs or snakes or such things since I was about 10 but last night I ended up holding a tarantula, a snake and an giant African milipede!
I started out with the tarantula, whose name I cannot remember. I always thought they'd have more weight to them being so big but really they're weightless.
The second time I passed by the table Merlin the Snake was out, so I had a go at wearing a snake. The woman who put him on me was right, wearing a snake is like getting a neck massage. It felt kind of nice.
Then as we were walking passed again they had out the Giant African Milipede named Darth Vader. I took one look and thought there was no way I was touching it. But the woman told me to pat it and see how neat he felt and then before I knew what I'd agreed to...
He wasn't bad either, I sort of liked that he was so big because I knew where he was at all times, it's a little like velcro when they took him off of my hands because his legs cling. But again, surprisingly not bad.
They also had Scabbers the rat but I didn't ask to hold him, I've played with rats before and I think that was one that kids were allowed to touch as opposed to some of the other ones which were for adults only. Jess held the tarantula as well, no one else who I was with wanted to hold the animals but they were kind enough to take pictures for me so I can prove I actually held these things.
The store also had their employees in costume and I got a couple of awesome shots of Voldemort (who I think was an employee) with Merlin the snake:
His make up was just amazing!
For the last hour we pretty much just stayed in line.
Me in line.
More Harry Potter merch. I was very good and didn't buy anything excepting for the Golden Snitches and, of course, the book.
At midnight they did a countdown and then started selling. I was so impressed with how organized the store was. I had my book in hand at 12:08am and was on my way home. I was so impressed with the fact that NO one was giving away any spoilers. I was afraid that there would be jerky people who would make it a misson to stop by bookstores last night and give away the ending but there was none of that where I was. I saw a few people going right for the last chapter as we were leaving the store but that's their own choice and while I think that sort of ruins the book at least they weren't ruining it for everyone.
This is after they started selling the books. I was really trying for a picture of just the stack of books but you can see most of their Harry Potter there as well. He was doing the face painting upstairs for most of the evening :)
I've not started reading yet, I'm almost reluctant to because this is the end of this Harry Potter world, but I think I'll grab some breakfast and start reading soon :)
There will be a review coming shortly on here I'm sure.